NFL Week 1 Overreactions

Week one of the NFL season is in the books, and we've already seen plenty of upsets, standout performances and disappointing injuries. If your team has started 1-0 you're likely having dreams of hoisting the Lombardi trophy, while all of those lowly 0-1 teams are preparing for a disastrous season. Obviously that's a bit of hyperbole, but part of being a sports fan is overreacting one way or another. Are the Ravens doomed? Could we see a dark horse win the Offensive Rookie of the Year? Will New Orleans be this year's breakout team? All of these questions will be answered in our NFL overreactions rundown!

Thursday Night Football gave us a rematch of last year's AFC championship game where the Ravens dropped the ball in a big way. I personally expected Baltimore to come out with a completely different strategy and hand the Chiefs a convincing week 1 loss, though I picked the Chiefs due to personal bias. However, that couldn't have been further from the truth. The Ravens were unable to utilize Derrick Henry outside of one touchdown drive, as he finished the game with just 13 attempts for 46 yards. This is the same nonsense we saw in the playoffs last season where the Ravens strayed from what they did best. Lamar Jackson ran all over the Chiefs defense due to the fact that the offensive line was unable to protect him in the pocket on pass plays, not due to designed run plays. On the other side of the ball the Ravens were not able to get to Mahomes regularly and managed only one sack. Not a great showing at all for a top ranked defense. While the Ravens could easily turn things around, this was not the right way to start a season that takes them through the toughest division in the NFL.

Entering the season the consensus was that Atlanta was destined to run away with the weak NFC South thanks to the addition of Kirk Cousins. After Sunday's performance where the Atlanta offense was outscored by Steelers kicker Chris Boswell, we can safely say that the division is up for grabs. Meanwhile, while Atlanta fans were burying their faces in their hands, another NFC South team was putting on a show. That team of course being the New Orleans Saints. After coming into the home bout versus Carolina a slight four point favorite they went on to absolutely steamroll their division rival by a score of 47-10. Quarterback Derek Carr looked like the Carr of 2016, finishing the game with a QBR of 142.5, 200 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns. Even without major contributions from star receiver Chris Olave the offense was clicking due to the reliable production of Alvin Kamara and a standout performance from speedster Raheed Shaheed. While it remains to be seen how the team fares against a decent opponent, NFL fans should keep their eyes on this team as a possible playoff contender.

The Chiefs offense looked to be in mid season form on Thursday night with Mahomes passing for 291 yards with a single touchdown, and aside from one interception the night was free from any major signs of rust. Much of the offensive success came from rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. After coming into the season with +2000 odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year his odds have dropped to just +900. Many have compared him to Tyreek Hill due to his speed but the belief was that Worthy would take some time to integrate into the offense due to the Chiefs loaded wide receiver room and some concerns about drops. However, all of those concerns should be put to bed after his week one performance. The rookie speedster logged a rushing touchdown early in the game, and was able to break free for a 35 yard touchdown on a deep ball from Mahomes. With the tools Worthy possesses combined with the best quarterback in the league and Andy Reid’s offense there is no doubt left that Worthy is a real candidate to bring home some hardware.

John Siebels is the owner of Springhill Sports Cards, he collects and sells sports cards on Ebay, you can find him on Instagram and his Ebay store here